getting a job there as a foreign national

..........???        Too true.   Many miss the point that both positive vs negative are contingent on your attitude = ability to see opportunity within chaos.   Viet Nam is not the West.

       Nor do you need clues now.  Go Ogle will provide all the answers you need; just keep typing the questions.   Like everywhere else, there is plenty of employment, but the best is the type you choose for yourself.   A few hours, days, no more than a week of voluntary work in hospitality, teaching, or tutoring manual trades..?    ..will open doors you might not have suspected would appeal to you...    Open the door to your mind.

Every cat is a Tiger in its own path.   Go ogle & go For it...   

Thanks bazza139.  Perhaps I’m being paranoid.  My fiancée believes I’m worrying too much.  Afterall, once we are married there, if I do stay I have a place already I can stay as long as I want.

So, I really appreciate the encouragement and I like your suggestions.

I am originally from Virginia. I moved to Vietnam a few years ago and am married to a Vietnamese. If you have any interest in teaching, as a native English speaker, it will be quite easy to find employment and the pay will probably be higher than in any other field. For me, I have never looked back and will never leave Vietnam. Should you be interested in employment here in the field of education I can probably give you some information to help steer you in the right direction. There are also some things you should do before coming here that will make your employment search easier. Just let me know if I can help.

It is my understanding in order to teach English in Vietnam you have to posses a bachelor degree.

That is correct, but, for the right person, I have heard of some other options. You also need a TEFL or TESOL Certification. You can get that here or in the States. What is your education level?

I do not posses a degree. 

I have been considering getting my Associates degree online for sometime now. I just wonder if it’s really possible to do it while residing overseas .

I'm not sure if all, but most of the teaching positions do require a Bachelor's degree (in any major). I do know that they all require a TESOL (or equal) certification. As an American you can now get a tourist visa good for multiple entries during a one year period. It is also quite easy (and only costs a couple hundred dollars) to renew it once you are here. If your personal situation permits it you might just consider coming for an extended stay and see what you can find once you arrive. I have both a US and VIetnamese phone number if you are interested. I will be more than happy to help you in any way I can.

Thank you very much I appreciate that. I’m actually thinking about coming to Vietnam on a three month visa marrying my fiancé and applying for a TRC after that .   Once married for established and I can start looking for work .

A wedding in Vietnam is very different from the US. You should discuss it in detail with your fiance as I don't think it can be done in 3 months, and I am most sure that you can't have a wedding and get a TRC in that short time. You must jump through a lot of hoops to get the government's permission. Nothing here can be done without the government's approval, and there is also some expense. I am not sure of your fiance's family's financial situation but you should also discuss with her who will be paying for the wedding as it can be quite costly. Unless she is a resident of Ho CHi Minh (she will know what that entails) you can't do it in that city and she can't sponsor you in that city, as most official matters here must be handled in your province of residence. Moving to a new province doesn't change your residency. You must be a property owner and have lived in a province for 3 years to be a "resident".  If her family has always been here then that is a moot point, but, otherwise, there are numerous obstacles. Let say you live in Hanoi and you move to Ho Chi Minh City. After living here for a year, you lose your ID card or driver's license. You must return to Hanoi to obtain a new one since you haven't lived in Ho Chi Minh long enough to be a legal resident. It is quite confusing to a westerner. If you choose to renew a visa here you must leave the country, obtain the visa from the Vietnam Embassy in that other country and then return on the new visa, or, pay an agency about $500 USD to handle all the paperwork for you. It is usually cheaper to make a short trip to Cambodia or Malaysia than to pay the agency. Thus, coming over on a one-year visa is the better way to go. Moving here is quite easy, however, marrying here does present some challenges. I'm not trying to discourage you, just giving you some food for thought. Your fiance might be so excited or interested in the prospect that she doesn't know about or hasn't considered all the potential obstacles to overcome. Perhaps we should consider this conversation via email as to have a little more privacy.

America is fast pace society and we Americans want to plan, know all details, and anticipate how the result will look like before we start to implement plans.

But people in Asia and Africa generally are way lay back and usually don't worry about things we worry about or allow to consume us.

I visited Vietnam twice, and love the pace of life and the culture. I wanted to move there. But I have a unique profession. I write grants and plan development programs. Finding a decent job to pay me well is quite a challenge. Tutoring English is the most common job but it pays nothing much if a tutor has not studied English and has not obtained some certification or documents in English. 

So what then is there for me to do besides minial jobs for minimal wage in Vietnam? Next I thought about starting a small business with the savings I have, but the process of an American starting a business is like pulling a tooth. So I decided to stay put to my current well paid job in Chicago while I keep saving and thinking about the idea of moving to Vietnam.

Know that it will be difficult to find a job to pay you satisfactorily if you are not a tech wizard or a health professional or an engineer in the construction area. Marry and enjoy your wife anyways. Good luck.

Hello everyone,

Please note that this new thread has been created from your post on the Vietnam forum as they were off-topic on the new members thread.

All the best,
Bhavna

Life offers very interesting situations to humanity. Asian parents in general are very happy giving their daughters to a Caucasian skin man who does not even have the minimum higher education (bachelor degree)  that is an evidence he can have a job, a career, and care well for their daughters and his future family. 

And as one member wrote here, Asian parents are even happy and accept when the Caucasian skin man breaks Asian culture by having sex and having babies with their daughters before marriage.

But the interesting part is that these same Asian parents reject any black man regardless of his accomplishments. Here is a classic example.

The black man is an  American, has two masters degrees, has a career that earns him monthly salary above the median household income in America. He has no debt in America. He lives in the downtown of a large American city. He has made very good savings for the future.  He has dated the Vietnamese woman for two years and is still asking the parents approval for the wedding. The girl and her parents saw the evidence of his accomplishments.

But the Vietnamese parents insist he cannot marry the daughter. No reason given.  But the girl decided not to marry any Vietnamese man accept this black man from America who has visited her and parents several times. Even on one of his visits, the woman's parents refused to see him. At the moment, he is waiting and she is determined to marry her black man American man.

What really are Asian parents looking for in the future son in law, if it is not for money, good career, and wealth? Is it the skin color they use to decide who marries their daughters?  I really wonder.

" Greed, (for want of a better word) - is good"  - Gordon Gekko

   "Guess (who's coming to dinner") is now over 50 years old, and even though the correct questions have forced deeper ones to be asked, America (particularly) still suffers the same stigma which is (incorrectly) based on the age-old negativity of black being dirty and white being pure.   Fact, not just words.

   Viet Nam is undoubtably (one) of the best social systems in today's world, being (relatively) free of class, creed, caste, colour and religion apart from the odd few who insist 'not in my backyard'.   As a culture, they are the most tolerant people you will (not) find anywhere else.   Do yer own research (I dare you)

  Still, biology rules.   (Any) child is the genetic investment of the parents, so if you cannot comply with their demands, (any) relationship is doomed unless both participants are self-aware sufficiently to override the fear that arises from ignorance.

  Again, Ethos, Pathos, Logos.  Logic always comes last...

It is choice, not chance that decides destiny